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The Information Rights Research Interest Group (IRRIG) has worked with a national non-departmental public body, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), and Durham County Council to define best practice in data handling and sharing of information. Training and consultancy based on legal regulatory doctrinal and theoretical research has led to the MMO altering its policy and procedure in relation to freedom of information legislation and data sharing practice. Durham County Council has consolidated its Environmental Information Regulation work within the Information Management Team to improve the delivery of a consistent, joined up service to all stakeholders and has prepared a revised FOIA Procedures Packet which is widely used in the local authority.
Organisations in the social housing sector have a model of how to use information to monitor the outcomes of their activities. Drawing on research which places information in its organisational context, the mechanism of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships has been used to enable Nottingham City Homes to pioneer the evaluation of its activities focusing on a major investment programme called Decent Homes. Cited in Parliamentary debates, not only has the impact shifted the strategic direction of the organisation's activities, but also it has been adopted as a model of best practice for the sector.
Between 2010 and 2012, Professor Luciano Floridi transferred knowledge about epistemological issues in the philosophy of information to Sogeti, an international information technology consultancy; and, via Sogeti, to technology and business leaders in Europe and beyond, influencing their planning for and adaptation to technological change. In the realm of public policy, Floridi developed guidelines and protocols surrounding ethical problems concerning digital and online information. He chaired a European Commission group whose `manifesto' forms part of the EU's Digital Futures initiative; influenced thinking around IP and international trade agreements; and contributed to a UNESCO action plan on ensuring equitable access to information.
The governance of information and its sharing significantly influences legal decision-making in institutional contexts. This research contrasts this with the social benefits and political desirability of making stakeholders who are the subjects of that information (or intended beneficiaries) participants in decision-making by making them partners in information governance and usage (Grace and Taylor, 2013, and Information Governance Review, 2013).
Through ethical and legal analysis this research seeks to understand the critical factors in practitioner decision-making and in structures of governance (including regulation). The specific impacts of this research have been in the fields of healthcare, and the management and governance of patient information in the NHS in research and commissioning contexts - specifically, the individual rights to reasonable objections, where this is practicable, for patients who feel that NHS healthcare research projects infringe their sense of privacy and confidentiality.
This case study describes the impact of the work by Professor Douwe Korff, usually working with Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute and UK and European non-governmental organisations, on the policies of the EU and the Council of Europe relating to the Internet, ubiquitous computing and the use of social media.The issues addressed range from freedom of expression on the Internet and the use of social media for political activism to the human rights aspects of the proposed (but defeated) anti-counterfeiting agreement, ACTA, but the work focusses on data protection. Specifically, the work impacted on the drafting of the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation; on European policies on privacy and terrorism, social media and free speech; on the priorities of the Council of Europe in relation to the Internet and cybercrime; and on the defeat of ACTA.
Researchers in the Organisations, Information and Knowledge (OAK) group have developed technologies for large-scale acquisition, integration and sense-making of information acquired from a variety of sources, including textual documents, the Web and multiple devices. These technologies have had:
One third of a million people each week benefit from using the world's first door-to-door national multimodal travel information service by confirming, identifying or changing their travel plans. Developed by the UK Government, Transport Direct (www.transportdirect.info) integrates details of all travel modes and caters for over 100 billion potential routes. The service has been found to significantly influence intended modal choice. Since its launch in December 2004 it has handled over 110 million user sessions. Professor Glenn Lyons of UWE, and UWE research, played a key part in the shaping of the service design, cited by the Department for Transport (DfT) as an example of good practice in the use of research to support policy.
The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) is a pioneering study, combining census, civil registration, health and education data (administrative data). It has established an approach that allows the legal and ethical use of personal, sensitive information by maintaining anonymity within the data system. This approach has become a model for the national data linkage systems that are now being established across the UK. The SLS has also enabled policy analysts to monitor key characteristics of the Scottish population in particular health inequalities (alerting policy makers to Scotland's poor position within Europe), migration (aiding economic planning) and changing tenure patterns (informing house building decisions). Finally, the study has become fully embedded in Scotland's National Statistical agency, allowing it to produce new informative statistical series.
Twelve years of our research into users' information behaviour has helped a wide variety of learners and Internet users to interact better with web-based information by equipping them with the skills and knowledge to develop their own agile models of information behaviour in the web environment. It has produced practical tools such as a toolkit for service providers, a methods book and awe-based resources evaluation framework that are employed nationally and internationally in secondary and higher education. The research is benefiting librarians, educators and learners dealing with complex information environments. Within the LIS (Library and Information Science) community, researchers, academics and practitioners are also benefiting from training current and next generation practitioners in the user engagement methods developed during the research.
Professor Thomas has undertaken a substantial body of work relating to government (Home Office and Ministry of Justice) offender information systems. These systems include the national collection of criminal records, and the sex offender register (as a sub-section of criminal records). This has had an impact on public policy and practice, through publications, conferences and direct engagement with government and parliamentary bodies. His work with lawyers in the UK Supreme Court led to changes in the law in 2012.